Pursuant to the provisions of Republic Act (RA) No. 9710 (Magna Carta of Women, Rule IV, Section 37, C of the IRR), the Department of Education (DepEd) establishes the Gender and Development (GAD) Focal Point System (GFPS) with the following composition:

Chairpersons

Name

Position

Yolanda S. Quijano

Undersecretary for Programs and Projects

Francisco M. Varela

Undersecretary for Administration and Finance

Members

Alberto Muyot

Undersecretary for Legal Affairs

Jesus Lorenzo R. Mateo

Assistant Secretary for Planning

Marilyn D. Dimaano

Director, Bureau of Elementary Education (BEE)

Lolita M. Andrada

Director, Bureau of Secondary Education (BSE)

Carolina S. Guerrero

Director, Bureau of Alternative Learning System (BALS)

Rhunna Catalan

Chief, Accounting Division

Shelwyn C. Briones

Chief, Budget Division

Nerissa L. Losaria

Chief, Staff Development Division-Human Resource Development Service (SDD-HRDS)

The GFPS shall perform the following functions:

ensure and sustain the agency's critical consciousness and support on women and gender issues;

take a lead role in direction-setting, advocacy, planning, monitoring and evaluation, and technical advisory on mainstreaming GAD perspectives in the agency programs, projects, activities, and processes;

lead the assessment of the gender-responsiveness of policies, strategies, programs, activities, and projects of the agency based on the priority needs and concerns of its constituency, and the formulation of recommendations and ensure their implementation;

assist in the formulation of new policies such as the advancing women's status in the agency;

lead in setting up appropriate systems and mechanisms to ensure the generation, processing, review and updating of sex-disaggregated data or GAD database to serve as basis in performance-based gender-responsive planning;

coordinate efforts of different divisions/offices/units of the agency and advocate for the integration of GAD perspectives in all their systems and processes;

spearhead the preparation of the agency annual performance-based GAD Plans, Programs, and Budget in response to the women and gender issues of their employees/constituencies, following the format and procedure prescribed by the Philippine Commission on Women (PCW);

lead in monitoring the effective implementation of the GAD Code and any other GAD-related policies, and the annual GAD Plans, Programs, and Budget;

lead the preparation of the annual agency/local government unit (LGU) GAD Accomplishment Report and other GAD reports which may be required under the Act;

promote the participation of women and gender advocates, other civil society groups and private organizations in the various stages of development planning cycle; and

ensure that all personnel of the agency/LGU including the auditors are capacitated on GAD.

To provide administrative and technical support to the GAD Focal Point, the Staff Development Division-Human Resource Development Service (SDD-HRDS) is designated as Secretariat and GAD Coordinating Unit and shall perform the following functions:

provide administrative support to the GFPS;

organize and arrange meetings of the GFPS;

document GAD activities and milestones for reporting;

assist in the conduct of activities related to the recognition, promotion and fulfillment of the rights of women and girl children; and

assist in the preparation of the annual GAD plan and accomplishment reports.